The Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah, Rosh HaShanah)
(Leviticus 23: 23-25)
Intro
1. Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year aka the Feast of Trumpets begins the High Holy Days of Judaism.
2. Jews who never attend the synagogue, even atheists, will often show up for The Feast of Trumpets and the soon to follow Day of Atonement. Jewish families pressure their children to attend the synagogue no matter what.
3. A Jewish parent called his son in New York. The father said to David, "I hate to tell you, but your mother and I can’t stand each other anymore, and we are divorcing. That’s it!! I want to live out the rest of my years in peace. I am telling you now, so you and your sister shouldn’t go into shock later when I move out." The father hung up, and David immediately called his sister and tells her the news. The sister says, "I’ll handle this." The sister calls Florida and gets her father on the phone. She pleads to her father, "Don’t do ANYTHING ’til David and I get there! We will be there Friday night." The father says, "All right, all right already." When the father hangs up the phone he hollers to his wife, "Okay, they’re coming for Rosh Hashana.” (source: http://www.101rosh-hashanah.com/jokes.html)
MAIN IDEA: The main significance of The Feast of Trumpets is that of God calling His people to gather together for spiritual awakening, repentance, judgment, and His enjoyment
I. Trumpets in the OLD Testament (23:23-25)
A. The term TRUMPET is not here in the Hebrew
• the word for blast or shout is used
• it was understood as a trumpet because it was a new moon
• Numbers 10:10, “Also at your times of rejoicing-your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals-you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God."
• The Feast of Trumpets is just the monthly New Moon ritual kicked up a few notches; same sacrifices, but more more;
• Since it was the 7th month (seven is special), and since it introduced the High Holy Days, it was reasonable intensified…
• These trumpets were made of silver and not Shofars
B. A memorial to COMMEMORATE
1. Remember to serve the LORD
Teshuvah (repentance)
• It was this day that Ezra read the Law to the people in Nehemiah 9, resulting in repentance and renewal
• So trumpets reminded the people to renew their commitment and it begins the repentance process
• We have some much information to process as Christians that we can get lost in the trivia and miss the big and main things. In a way, our Life With A Purpose series will be our Yom Teruah, as we try to realign ourselves with the importance of our relationship to God…
2. To remember God’s creation of the EARTH
Rosh HaShanah (Head of the Year, Birthday of the World)
• How did they decide that this was the day of the year the world was created? Because the first words of the Book of Genesis (Bereishit), "in the beginning," when changed around, read, Aleph b’Tishrei, or "on the first of Tishrei." Therefore, Rosh HaShanah is known as the birthday of the world, for tradition tells us that the world was created then. www.hebroots.com/chap7.html
• Although the logic is shaky, it makes sense; since God declared this day the first day of the civil new year, He may well have begun creation on this day
“There are four new years in the Jewish calendar. Nisan 1 is the New Year’s day of kings (the date for determining how many years a king has ruled) and for months (Nisan is the first month). Elul 1 is the new year for the tithing of animals. Shevat 15 (Tu Bishvat) is the new year for the trees, and Tishrei 1 is the new year of years. It also marks the anniversary of the creation of the world.” (source: http://www.hebroots.com/chap7.html)
3. The Trumpet reminds us that the Lord is SOVEREIGN
• Traditionally, Psalm 47 is read seven times
• The Trumpet is the instruement of royalty
C. Whereas the shofar blast was a call to arms, the TRUMPET blast was a ROYAL SUMMONS and WELCOME
The main significance of The Feast of Trumpets is that of God calling His people to gather together for spiritual awakening, repentance, judgment, and His enjoyment
II. Trumpets in Modern Judaism
A. Its NAMES
This gets complicated. So many names for the same day. Reminds me of a joke:
A city family decided to move to the country.
They bought a ranch and made plans to raise cattle. About six months later some friends came to see them.
They wanted to see the ranch and the cattle.
The friend said to the owner of the ranch, "What do you call the ranch?"
The owner of the ranch said, "I wanted to call it the ‘Flying W.’ My wife wanted to name it the ‘Suzie Q.’ My oldest son wanted to call it the ‘Bar J.’ And my youngest son wanted to call it the ‘Lazy Y.’
So the friend asked, "Well, what did you call it?"
"Well, we call it ‘The Flying W, Suzie Q, Bar J, Lazy Y Ranch,’" he said.
"OK," the friend said, "but where are the cattle?"
The owner replied, "Well, we don’t have any. None of them survived the branding."
[None Survived, from the book, "God Has Never Failed Me, But He’s Sure Scared Me to Death a Few Times" by Stan Toler]
There are five alternative names for this feast.
1. The first is Yom Teruah, a biblical name meaning “the day of the blowing of the trumpets.” Modern Judaism teaches that this name was given because of the call on this day to Jewish people to remember their sins.
2. The second name – “The Memorial of Triumph” or “The Shouting of Joy” – is based upon Job 38:7, which stated that the sons of God (the angels) shouted for joy when God created the heavens and earth. A Jewish tradition holds that the world was created on the Feast of Trumpets.
3. A third name for this feast is “The Day of Remembrance,” so called because Jewish theology includes a call to Jews to remember their sins on this day before the next holy season, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).
4. The fourth name, “The Day of Judgment,” derives from a traditional Jewish teaching that on this day all Jews undergo judgment to determine if their sins will be forgiven.
5. This feast’s fifth and most common name among Jewish people today is Rosh Hashanah, which means “the head of the year.” Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish civil year. (source: http://www.ariel.org/ff00062c.html)
B. Its Celebration: TWO days
• based on the idea of a “New Moon,” so have to be sure
On Rosh Hashanah, the shofar is blown in the synagogue for three Jewish theological reasons:
1. First, the blowing of the horn is a call to remembrance and repentance. All Jews are called to return to Judaism, as all will pass under judgment on this day.
2. The blowing of the shofar is also a reminder of Israel’s covenant relationship with God.
3. The third reason for the trumpet call is to confuse Satan on the day he accuses Israel. According to Zechariah 3:1, Satan likes to accuse Israel of her sin, and Jewish theology teaches that Satan does this on the Feast of Trumpets. On this day, then, the trumpet is blown in an effort to deter Satan from accusing Israel.
(source: http://www.ariel.org/ff00062c.html)
C. Numerous MYSTERIOUS and superstitious beliefs
The main significance of The Feast of Trumpets is that of God calling His people to gather together for spiritual awakening, repentance, judgment, and His enjoyment
III. Trumpets from A Prophetic Perspective
A. The rapture of the CHURCH
1. I Thessalonians 4:13-18 includes ALL possible meanings of “Truah”
“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.”
2. Will Christ RETURN on Trumpets?
• Matthew 24:26, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son…”
• Since Christ died on Passover to make us holy (Unleavened Bread) and rose on First Fruits, and since the Spirit came at Pentecost, it is intriguing to think that Christ will come on Trumpets
• Incidentally, a Post-Trib. view messes up the order. Our next feast foreshadows the turning of Israel to God during the end of the Tribulation; logically, with trumpets coming first, the rapture has to at least occur before Armageddon or our feasts are out of sequence
B. The Regathering of ISRAEL
1. Israel will be regathered because God is FAITHFUL, because God is SOVEREIGN, and because God does not need to IMPROVISE
2. Isaiah 27:12-13 alludes to this TRUMPET call
“In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one. And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.”
C. The survival of Israel is a sign that God is faithful; God made an unconditional covenant with all Israel, not just the faithful remnant of Israel. God does not redefine his terminology afterward as though he were a corrupt lawyer, but He has the power to keep His Word despite man’s fickle responses. You see, He is a big God. He is never surprised and totally beyond the limitations of time. He has not trouble being faithful.
The main significance of The Feast of Trumpets is that of God calling His people to gather together for spiritual awakening, repentance, judgment, and His enjoyment
CONCLUSION
1. How big is your God?
2. My God will sound the trumpet, and I’ll be gone. He can resurrect the dead bones of the nation of Israel, regenerate them, and prosper them.
3. Is your God a slave to the decisions of others? Or is He truly sovereign?
